Congressman Pyo Chang Won

We respectfully ask that the Government of South Korea take all necessary steps to ban the dog meat trade in South Korea including declassifying dogs as livestock in the Enforcement Rule of the Livestock Industry Act.

South Korea is now a leading first world industrial nation with many of its companies household names. South Korea’s hosting of major sporting events has also shown the world that South Korea is recognised as one of the world’s leading nations.

Read More

Unfortunately there is an ever growing impression of South Korea as an undeveloped nation because of its treatment of animals and particularly the large scale consumption of dogs and cats that are raised, transported and killed in a inhumane fashion. During times of famine it is understandable that people will eat whatever is available but today the eating of such meat is practised because of unfounded beliefs perpetuated by those who make money from inflicting suffering on these animals. South Korea is the only country in the world where dogs are classified as livestock and commercially farmed.

Other countries in Asia such as Japan, The Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and most recently Taiwan have banned the consumption of dog meat. South Korea is the only country in the world that commercially farms dogs for meat and the conditions in these farms are appalling.

The cruelty associated with the industry is becoming increasingly publicised and world focus on it is increasing, damaging the international image of South Korea and its people.

It is not in South Korea’s interests to allow such practices to continue. Not only does allowing the business to continue damage South Korea’s reputation and economy it also severely impacts its tourist industry. In 2012, 11.1 million foreign tourists visited South Korea, making it the 20th most visited country in the world, and the 6th most visited in Asia. In 2015 revenue from tourism comprised over 5.8% of South Korea’s gross domestic product.

The health hazards of eating dog meat are well documented. Dogs on farms are routinely pumped full of antibiotics to prevent them dying of fatal diseases, this is leading to human resistance to antibiotics. The hygiene standards at slaughter houses are appalling. Far from being a beneficial food dog meat is positively dangerous to those who eat it. This alone gives the government ample justification in closing the industry.

By ending the dog meat industry South Korea will be seen throughout the world in an extremely positive light and its reputation will change overnight.

The Livestock Industry Act is the law governing livestock and livestock products, and stipulates that cattle, horses, sheep and swine, etc. that are bred by the people are livestock. However, Article 2 of the Enforcement Rule of the Livestock Industry Act provides that livestock are “animals prescribed and notified by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs as animals that can be bred and contribute to the increase of income for farmers such as mules, donkeys, rabbits, dogs and bees.”

We respectfully ask that the Government of South Korea declassify dogs as livestock in the Enforcement Rule of the Livestock Industry Act.

Dog meat on display, alongside live dogs to be slaughtered for customers in Seoul.

Cookies are used by Soi Dog Foundation and our partners such as advertising, marketing and analytics service providers. These technologies may be used in analysing trends, administering our websites, tracking users’ movements around our websites and to gather demographic information about our website visitors as a whole. We may receive reports based on the use of these technologies by such companies on an aggregated basis. Our partners may also use such technologies to deliver advertisements to you. Users can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level. Your IP address, keystroke activity and personal information if collected by cookies are never stored or shared with any third-parties. We also use Google Analytics, Google AdWords, AdRoll and Facebook cookies. Some or all of these tools may be used to track information about your behaviour. You can visit https://www.aboutcookies.org/ for detailed information on how to manage cookies in your browser.

Information about Soi Dog's donors is collected for the purpose of processing your donation, receipt your donation and to share updates on our work and programs. If you would like to be excluded from updates, please click here.

Personal information about you (name, email address, telephone number) will be collected if you subscribe to receiving updates from Soi Dog Foundation. If you would like to be excluded from updates, please click here.

If you no longer wish to receive emails from Soi Dog, you can click the unsubscribe link included in any email we send, or you can do so by clicking here

Instances Where We Are Required To Share Your Information: Soi Dog Foundation will disclose your information where required to do so by law, if subject to subpoena or other legal proceeding or if we reasonably believe that such action is necessary to comply with the law and the reasonable requests of law enforcement.

Behavioural Targeting / Re-Targeting: We partner with advertising partners to manage our advertising on other sites. Our third party partners may use technologies such as cookies to gather information about your activities on Soi Dog Foundation’ website and other websites in order to provide you advertising based upon your browsing activities and interests. The only way to completely “opt out” of the collection of any information through cookies or other tracking technology is to actively manage the settings on your browser or mobile device. Please refer to your browser’s or mobile device’s technical information for instructions on how to delete and disable cookies, and other tracking/recording tools. To learn more about cookies and related technologies, you may wish to visit https://www.aboutcookies.org/.

Social Media Widgets: Our websites include social media features, such as the Facebook Like and Share buttons and other widgets that run on our websites. These features may collect your IP address and which page you are visiting on our websites, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. Social media features and widgets are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our website. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the organization providing it.

We use cookies to give you the best possible experience on our website. By continuing to browse this site, you give consent for cookies to be used. For more details please read our Cookie Policy.

Cookies are used by Soi Dog Foundation and our partners such as advertising, marketing and analytics service providers. These technologies may be used in analysing trends, administering our websites, tracking users’ movements around our websites and to gather demographic information about our website visitors as a whole. We may receive reports based on the use of these technologies by such companies on an aggregated basis. Our partners may also use such technologies to deliver advertisements to you. Users can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level. Your IP address, keystroke activity and personal information if collected by cookies are never stored or shared with any third-parties. We also use Google Analytics, Google AdWords, AdRoll and Facebook cookies. Some or all of these tools may be used to track information about your behaviour. You can visit www.aboutcookies.org for detailed information on how to manage cookies in your browser.